Chapter 148: Chanyue’s Dream 13

Chapter 148: Chanyue’s Dream (13)

On the day they fled, Chu Hang received word and hurried off in pursuit, leaving Qin Chanyue alone at the mansion under the watch of his trusted guards.

But unexpectedly, when Chu Hang was halfway through the chase, his aide sent word saying that Qin Chanyue had vanished.

Qin Chanyue had disappeared?

How could a bedridden person just vanish?

Chu Hang rushed back to the house where Qin Chanyue was kept. As he approached the gate, his aide nervously came forward to report, “My lord, when we opened the door yesterday morning, she was gone. She was still there the previous night. We searched the entire estate but found nothing.”

The aide wanted to say, “It looks like she ran off on her own.” After all, it was unlikely that someone could sneak in unnoticed and abduct a grown person without a trace. It was far more plausible that she had left of her own accord. But seeing Chu Hang’s bloodshot eyes, he didn’t dare say it aloud.

Chu Hang barely heard his subordinate’s words. Staggering, he shoved the door open and stepped inside.

The aide dared not follow, remaining only outside the room.

The chamber was empty. The windows and doors were closed, with pale sunlight seeping through the silk curtains, casting a square of light onto the floor.

The bed lay bare, the covers neatly folded, as though no one had ever slept there.

But he knew better.

She should have been lying there—waiting for him to bring back the cure. They were meant to marry, to be together forever. They would have a child, they would—

And yet, all that remained was an empty room.

He couldn’t believe it. Slowly, he walked closer, reaching the bedside and stretching out his hand to touch the sheets.

The cold bed still held traces of her scent. As he leaned in, he thought he caught a whisper of flowers.

His palm brushed over the icy fabric, hunting for any sign of her.

Someone must have stolen his Chanyue away. He refused to believe she would leave him.

But he found nothing else—just a handkerchief hidden beneath the pillow.

She had once taken his belongings, returning them to him after her vengeance was complete before disappearing from his life, something of which Chu Hang had known nothing.

He did not understand Qin Chanyue’s motives, nor why she had left. He knew nothing—only that he had loved her like a moth to a flame, only to suddenly lose her.

He stared blankly at the handkerchief in his hand for a long time. Finally, he stepped out of the room, his gaze vacant. As he crossed the threshold, he almost stumbled on it.

The terrified aide rushed to steady him, catching only a faint murmur from Chu Hang’s lips.

Leaning closer, he heard him whisper: "Find her."

He had to find her.

He would find her.

With no other choice, the aide hastily began an investigation.

They questioned the maids who had served Qin Chanyue, traced her possible whereabouts, and pored over every letter she had ever received—scrutinizing each detail a hundredfold.

Eventually, they uncovered the matter of Qin Chanyue’s earlier return to her village for a funeral.

When Qin Chanyue's mother, Yiniang Li, passed away, the Marquis's estate had no intention of holding a grand funeral for her, as her death was shameful. Thus, they merely planned a hasty, low-key burial somewhere.

Qin Chanyue then volunteered to take her mother back to their village for burial. Chu Hang gave her a group of men, but later she returned to the village alone, and nothing else was known about the matter.

This time, when Chu Hang's men went back to investigate, they brought him shocking news.

Upon returning to the village, Qin Chanyue had used the connections Chu Hang had given her to make life hell for half the villagers, especially the village chief.

It was said that the village chief was forced to kneel before Qin Chanyue's mother's grave for seven days and nights, after which he fell gravely ill and nearly died.

Qin Chanyue seemed to harbor deep resentment toward these people, though the source of her hatred remained unclear. Chu Hang had been unaware of all this at the time, as he was locked in an all-out feud with the Marquis. The funeral arrangements for Qin Chanyue's mother had been handled almost entirely by her alone.

Back then, Chu Hang had trusted Qin Chanyue unconditionally and felt sorry for her recent loss, so he never asked too many questions.

Only now, when his men revisited the case, did they uncover some discrepancies.

This time, Chu Hang's men hauled the village chief back in and interrogated him thoroughly, finally extracting a bombshell.

The village chief was no hardened criminal. After suffering Qin Chanyue's retaliation, he lived in constant fear. When Chu Hang's men seized him again and questioned him, he blurted out a startling secret.

Qin Chanyue's father had not died of natural causes—he had been poisoned by poisonous mushrooms, and Qin Chanyue herself had nearly died alongside him. Later, under the Marquis's orders, the village chief hastily cremated the body.

Qin Chanyue had always remembered this but kept silent. Once she gained power, she lost no time getting her revenge.

Thus, Qin Chanyue had always known that Yiniang Li had killed her father—yet she still followed Yiniang Li into the Marquis's household.

Thus, Qin Chanyue had stayed with him.

Thus, Qin Chanyue had mysteriously been poisoned out of nowhere—without cause or reason—while he, played for a fool, had been deceived.

After learning the truth, Chu Hang sat for a long time in the empty room Qin Chanyue had left behind, until finally, he coughed up blood.

From the very beginning, he had been Qin Chanyue's target. Her professed love for him had been nothing but a calculated scheme.

She had never loved him. Never. Not once.

Chu Hang felt suffocated.

Overwhelming sorrow engulfed him, mingled with bitterness and resentment, twisting and coiling until it transformed into white-hot hatred. This hatred oozed like thick, bubbling black poison from his body, consuming him entirely.

Chanyue, Chanyue—

A guttural growl of defiance rose from his bones, and his throat produced eerie hissing sounds. He seemed to transform grotesquely, uttering words no one could understand—garbled, feverish whispers repeating and layering until they formed a single phrase.

"I will find you."

I will find you.

——

Half a year later, in Jiangbei.

Jiangbei in Great Chen was a water country, more water than land, dotted with ports. Villages nestled along the rivers, where people made their living fishing.

Not long ago, a striking young woman arrived in Shui Ze Town. She claimed to have lost both parents and drifted here, where she rented a small courtyard and bought a wine shop, becoming its owner.

Her wine was sweet, and the owner herself was lovely, so business boomed.

They called her Mistress Qin. Occasionally, men came courting, but she turned them down with a smile, never saying yes.

Until that day, the heavy rain.

With few customers in the downpour, the proprietress closed up shop early and returned home from the tavern. No sooner had she stepped through the door than someone strangled her throat in a vice-like grip.

Amid flashes of lightning and thunderous claps, Qin Chanyue saw a gaunt, pale face—saw a pair of blood-red eyes.

"Chanyue—"

Like a serpent, he hissed while slithering closer, his cold body wrapping around hers. In the widening shock of her pupils, he offered a gentle smile.

*Found you...*

*Found you... Found you... Found you... Devour you... Devour you... Devour you... Devour you... Devour you—*

"We'll never part."

Rainy night, intertwined, penetrated, clinging.

We shall never part, until the great dream shatters.

***

The summer of the Southern Frontier stretched endlessly. The incense in the corner had burned to ashes, and damp rain dripped from the eaves, splattering noisily against the stone bricks. The rising mist carried the pungent scent of wet earth, leaving the newly awakened disoriented, lost between past and present.

When Chu Hang awoke from sleep, he instinctively reached for the person beside him.

Countless illusions flitted by like passing clouds, but this one was truly still with him, easing the tightness in his chest.

Life is but a fleeting dream, hard to tell from reality—and he didn’t even want to try. As long as his Chanyue remained by his side, that was enough.

At that moment, Qin Chanyue stirred awake too.

Groggily nestled against him, she drowsily pressed close, blinking at him blankly before murmuring, "I think I had a dream."

It felt so real, the lingering confusion still fresh upon waking.

A long, long dream, where everything seemed vividly real. She could still remember sinking into Chu Hang’s arms at the end, unable to pull away.

Chu Hang kissed her forehead. "Must’ve been the incense."

Rather fascinating, no wonder Emperor Xingyuan personally sent it over.

"We’ll try again someday," he said. "Like living another life altogether."

Qin Chanyue gave a soft hum of agreement before snuggling closer, then suddenly cooed, "*Gege—*"

A heat coiled low in Chu Hang’s belly as he pulled her tightly against him, rolling her beneath him.

***

The next day, Chu Hang penned a letter to Emperor Xingyuan, requesting two more sticks of the incense, praising its amusing effects and how much he and his wife enjoyed it.

Emperor Xingyuan was fuming when he received the letter.

Ever since they’d woken from that dream last time, Liu Yandai had refused to let him into the bedchamber and ignored him all day. All because of a single dream, she'd given him the cold shoulder for ages. That was why he’d sent the incense to Prince Zhengnan—out of spite, thinking *misery loves company*. And yet, they actually liked it!

Why weren’t Prince Zhengnan and his wife fighting like they were?

That night, Emperor Xingyuan marched straight to the bedchamber door, vowing and pleading that he finally had a way to mollify her anger.

Liu Yandai opened the door with suspicion and asked, "What method?"

"Let's try this one more time," Emperor Xingyuan said, holding up the incense. "We'll fix what happened in the dream...in the dream, okay? No matter what happens this time, when we wake up, no more being mad at me."

Recalling the resentment she had bottled up all this time, Liu Yandai snatched the incense from his hand and gritted her teeth. "Get in here!"

If this dream had kept her steaming for days, then if there was a way back, she would definitely go back—just once!

"And if we can't—" Liu Yandai shot a fierce glare at Emperor Xingyuan. "Don't you ever come through my door again."

Emperor Xingyuan sneaked in after her, quietly shutting the door behind him before persuading Liu Yandai toward the bed.

Just let him hold her—it'd been way too long!

Liu Yandai ignored him, leading them into the bedroom and personally placing the two sticks of incense into the burner, lighting them and setting it beside the bed.

She fell asleep still furious.

As for Emperor Xingyuan, having gone far too long without touching Liu Yandai, he fidgeted endlessly beside her until finally pulling her into his arms and burying his face in the warmth of her neck, inhaling deeply.

She was so warm.

Beside the bed, the incense burner stood silently, two thin trails of smoke curling upward and slowly dispersing into the air.

Emperor Xingyuan took a deep breath and drifted off into the dream with Liu Yandai.